Foster The People
Pumped Up Kicks
If I was in AA, they would be my higher power. Best song all year, for sure.
Steve Wynn & The Miracle3
Northern Aggression
So vibratingly psychedelic you’ll throw up!
Noddy
Remora, Remora
Apparently there hasn’t been enough said about being gay and smoking.
Arcade Fire
The Suburbs
The interactive video for We Used To Wait makes me cry with nostalgia every time.
Dum Dum Girls
I Will Be
Wild 60s girls in a state of abandon, recorded in the bathroom.
Deerhunter
Halcyon Digest
They got all melodic, but they’re still kind of noisy. This is the first one that’s totally listenable.
Tame Impala
Innerspeaker
Found my summer album early this year. I Really Don’t Mind.
Blitzen Trapper
Destroyer of the Void
Bob is smoking on the porch, Robbie’s looking over the canyon, Levon’s in the bathroom.
Caribou
Swim
One song. One word. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun.
The National
High Violet
Not as good as Boxer, but still pretty damn good.
MGMT
Congratulations
All over the place. Nothing for everyone. Except ME. I love it so much I want to scream.
Beach House
Tean Dream
Took awhile to warm up to this band, but when I did...
Oh No Ono
Eggs
Theatrical and orchestral. A little something for everyone.
Charlotte Gainsbourg
IRM
Beck has taken the well-pedigreed chanteuse and made her into Beck.
The Middle East
The Recordings of the Middle East
I listen to “Blood” 7 or 8 times a day and cry every time.
Sunset
Gold Disolves to Gray
Old fashioned pop. Sort of 70s, sort of ragtime, a bit of cheese, but it’s good cheese.
Freelance Whales
Weathervanes
As enthusiastic as they are nerdy.
Curtains For You
What A Lovely Surprise
To Wake Up Here
Perfect indie-pop. Oh, what joy sprouts forth from Seattle.
Miike Snow
Miike Snow
The frozen Jackelope says it all. They’re cool live, too.
Erik Blood
The Way We Live
Apparently, it’s with a “K”.
Fanfarlo
Reservoir
They’re British and they’re very, very sincere.
Julian Plenti
Julian Plenti Is... Skyscraper
It’s the guy from Interpol!
Jay Reatard
Watch Me Fall
Sadly, gone far too soon
.
The Duckworth Lewis Method
The Duckworth Lewis Method
Neil Hannon from The Divine Comedy has made an entire album about cricket. As lovely as it is obscure.
Animal Collective
Merriweather Post Pavilion
It’s a venue in Maryland. And a really hypnotic album.
Metric
Fantasies
Her name is Emily Haines and she’ll make you jump up and down.
Steve Wynn
Crossing Dragon Bridge
It’s his gajillionth record and it’s just as good as the first.
The Whitsundays
The Whitsundays
Jangly pop from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Warmer than it sounds.
Blitzen Trapper
Furr
They’re furry. And they sing about fur. This is one weird camping trip.
Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes
Try to get White Winter Hymnal out of your head. Just try. Can’t do it, can you?
MGMT
Oracular Spectacular
That boy is so pretty.
The Airborne Toxic Event
The Airborne Toxic Event
The name is a Don Delillo reference, so they’ve gotta be good.
Sea Wolf
Leaves In The River
One guy named Alex Church and many haunting melodies.
Blonde Redhead
23
Japanese art students and Italian twins making eerie tunes. And their web site is pretty.
Arcade Fire
Neon Bible
Canadians ate the world and it was very tasty.
Silversun Pickups
Carnavas
Lazy Eye has been on a loop for years now.
Sunset Rubdown
Shut Up I Am Dreaming
Spencer Krug from Wolf Parade had some time on his hands and formed this cool side project.
The Hold Steady
Boys And Girls In America
Craig Finn is sharp and funny and his band is very, very E Street.
Jim Noir
Tower Of Love
Emma Peel and John Steed’s love child, born after they ran away to the circus.
Wolf Parade
Apologies To The Queen Mary
There’s something in the water in Montreal that making their voices crack a little.
Spoon
Gimme Fiction
Sometimes they sound like Billy Joel but I like them anyway.
Andrew Bird
Andrew Bird And The Mysterious Production Of Eggs
He plays the fiddle and then loops it and accompanies himself!
Cloud Cult
Advice From The Happy Hippopotamus
That hippopotamus is not nearly as happy as the title might imply.
The High Strung
These Are Good Times
Playing quietly at your local library. Seriously. They play at libraries.
Muse
Absolution
Big, bold and bombastic. They are not afraid to go way over the top and back down the other side.
The Wrens
The Meadowlands
The best thing to come out of New Jersey since salt water taffy.
The Shins
Oh, Inverted World
Achingly sweet harmonies. Like eating a whole box of chocolate by yourself. In a good way.
Ladytron
604
Comes at you like a truck full of disco.